Help care for conserved lands by participating in a string of upcoming stewardship volunteer workdays with Mainspring Conservation Trust, held 9 a.m. to noon every other Thursday at various locations in Macon County. 

Keep the hemlocks of the Pisgah National Forest safe from the invasive hemlock wooly adelgid during a volunteer workday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26, at the Old Fort Picnic Area near Old Fort. 

Fire crews responded to three structure fires in Macon County over a 24-hour period. 

Get ready to chill out at the NC Smokies Ice Festival on January 26-28 at locations throughout the county. 

Applications are open to receive free bicycle helmets from the N.C. Department of Transportation. 

Editor’s Note: A renowned Western North Carolina writer, Charles Frazier burst onto the worldwide literary scene with his seminal 1997 novel “Cold Mountain,” which won the National Book Award for Fiction. In 2023, he released “The Trackers” to widespread acclaim. 

A special stage production of “Fantasia on Mysterium: The Epic Immersive Theatrical Recital” will be held at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 25-27 at the Bardo Arts Center on the campus of Western Carolina University in Cullowhee. 

The Haywood Arts Regional Theater in Waynesville is currently offering a wide variety of classes in the theater arts for all ages, young and old. Whether you are just starting out or want to hone your skills, HART has opportunities for you. 

Winter hikes, winter lights, frosty runs and outdoor ice skating will offer ample opportunity for chilly fun in celebration of the N.C. Smokies Ice Fest Weekend Jan. 26-28. 

A new visitor center and retail space is now open just outside the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in Townsend, Tennessee, offering information, education materials, souvenirs, parking tags and other park-related goods to Smokies visitors. 

The Benton MacKaye Trail Association will remove blown-down trees along the Tennessee/North Carolina line during a maintenance trip starting at 9 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 27, from the Coker Creek Welcome Center in Tennessee. 

Draft priority measures to reduce greenhouse gases in North Carolina are open for public comment through Sunday, Jan. 28. 

A retreat for faith leaders and people interested in inspiring their congregations and communities to care for the planet will be held Feb. 2-3 at the Montreat Conference Center in Montreat. 

The 21st annual Business of Farming Conference is coming up Saturday, Feb. 24, at the A-B Tech Conference Center in Asheville. 

Allens Creek Park in Waynesville is closed until further notice while county crews clean it up following last week’s heavy rains and wind. 

Two organizations dedicated to stewarding beloved outdoor spaces are looking for new board members to help them fulfill their respective missions. 

The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) announced that its Human Trafficking Unit (HTU) has been awarded a $9.6 million grant over the next five years from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation, an organization dedicated to improving the standard of life and quality of life for people around the world. 

U.S. 64 between Buck Creek Road and Brush Creek Road will remain closed for more than two weeks while a contractor repairs 80 feet of embankment damaged during heavy storms on Tuesday.

An eight-week training course for anyone interested in operating an agriculture-based business will kick off Monday, Jan. 15, at Southwestern Community College in Sylva.

The U.S. Forest Service has released its final analysis and draft decision for the Nantahala Mountains Project, which will touch more than 800 acres over a 24,943-acre project area. 

A new database cataloguing the work of renowned Smokies photographer, Japan-born George Masa, is now available online. 

Over the next two months, snowboarders are invited to film their best moves at Cataloochee Ski Area and submit them for The Cat Classic, a premiere and contest slated for Saturday, March 9, at Salty Dog’s Seafood and Grill in Maggie Valley. 

Friends of Panthertown will host a trail workday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, meeting at Salt Rock Gap Trailhead.

The 12th annual Plunge Benefit-t-t-ting Kids in the Creek and Environmental Education will take place 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Lake Junaluska Pool in Waynesville. 

Find out how birds talk to each other during a program offered at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 29, at the Cowee School Arts and Heritage Center near Franklin. This talk was rescheduled from its original Jan. 15 date due to inclement weather. 

Hear the case for building more housing from an environmental perspective with a webinar offered 5:30-6:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 22, from MountainTrue. 

Explore winter in the mountains with a trio of upcoming hikes led by Haywood County Recreation and Parks. 

The Carolina Mountain Club has started a new hiking initiative, called Leisure Hikes, with the next event scheduled for 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 20, on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail in Asheville. 

Western Carolina University’s Martin Luther King Jr. celebration will begin Monday, Jan. 15, with its annual Unity March. 

Sarah Banks, Emily Jenkins, Kelly Martin-Hicks, Abigail Clark, Heather Koonce and Sarah Keener at Haywood County Health and Human Services Agency have successfully completed the N.C. Credentialed Public Health Nurse Course.

More than 130 leaders from North Carolina and Virginia gathered to discuss a strategic action plan for the entire Blue Ridge Parkway corridor during the Blue Ridge Rising Two-State Summit Dec. 5-6 in Blowing Rock. 

The National Park Service has announced its intention to collaborate with Native American tribes across the country on a theme study focusing on the Indian Reorganization Period. 

MountainTrue has recognized the members and volunteers who gave the most to the waters, forests and communities of Western North Carolina and North Georgia this year during a ceremony held in Asheville. 

Registration opens soon for several upcoming outdoor education opportunities at the N.C. Arboretum in Asheville. 

While some may have preferred a white Christmas, the rain that covered the region instead has proven the better Christmas gift for a region in continued drought. 

Take a winter walk on the Mountains-to-Sea Trail Sunday, Jan. 7, in Asheville with the Carolina Mountain Club. 

During 2023, volunteers with the Highlands Plateau Greenway contributed 640 hours to create new trails and maintain the existing ones that connect the Highlands community, participating in more than 23 workdays over the past year. 

The nonprofit EcoForesters has crowned its winners for the people who made a difference in forest stewardship and education during 2023. 

Help remove invasive plants on the Jackson County Greenway 1-4 p.m. Friday, Jan. 12 in Cullowhee. 

A three-week fly-tying course will teach participants to tie flies from the Southern Appalachians, 6-8 p.m. Mondays Jan. 15-29 at the Folkmoot Center in Waynesville. 

Cullowhee-based Landmark Learning is now enrolling for a variety of wilderness medicine certification courses planned for the winter months. 

Clayton Bardall, a graduate student in Western Carolina University’s Engineering Technology program and tight end for WCU’s football team, recently combined his two passions — football and engineering — on a project that will have a major impact on athletes for generations to come. 

January is National Mentoring Month, a great start to 2024 and an opportunity to give a young person a great start in life. 

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 4, in Bryson City, Frank March and Henry Chambers will present “The Lamon Chambers Map” at this year’s first Swain County Genealogical and Historical Society meeting. 

Haywood Regional Medical Center has named Amanda Pruitt Motley as its new chief financial officer, effective Jan. 8, 2024. With more than 12 years’ experience in private and healthcare finance, Motley joins Haywood Regional from Highpoint Health System in Tennessee, where she previously served as interim market CFO. 

The Grinch who Stole Christmas and Pactiv Evergreen have a lot more in common than just a shared color scheme and stealing presents right out from under the Christmas trees of children.

When Pactiv Evergreen announced it would close its 115-year-old paper mill in Canton earlier this year, local leaders had to deal with a host of issues: the plight of the workers and their families, their health care coverage, declining school enrollment, pollution and the future of the site itself.

This one goes to the Pigeon River, due both to the actual metals found in a sampling site along its bank and to the very metal way its fish populations have rebounded after the Canton paper mill shut down in June. 

Sometimes there are awards that call for two winners, like back in the day before the College Football Playoffs system when two schools would sometimes share a national championship. 

The Great Smoky Mountains National Park has earned this one for its decision to begin charging for parking, effective March 1 this year.